Department of DefenseWhen an American gunship launched a strike on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan previous year, 42 people (some of whom were medical personnel) died. US fighter jets and heavy airborne gunships joined a new assault on the besieged Iraqi city of Falluja April 28, 2004, local residents said.
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He headed US Special Operations Command at the time of the attack last autumn and took over US Central Command in March, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan.
Sixteen members of the military have been sanctioned for their role in the airstrike that hit the hospital (pictured).
The investigation concluded that the personnel involved did not know that they were striking a medical facility. However, they also determined that these failures did not amount to a war crime, he said.
“The investigation found that the incident resulted from a combination of human errors, process errors and equipment failures and that none of the personnel knew they were striking a hospital”, he said.
The group called the attack a war crime and demanded an independent investigation.
Defence Secretary Ash Carter has ordered commanders to take a series of steps over the next four months to “mitigate the potential for similar incidents in the future”.
“This was an extreme situation”, complicated by war fatigue, Votel added. The investigation concluded that the gunship’s ground crew and operators were not aware they were firing on a medical facility. “The investigation ultimately concluded that this tragic incident was caused by a combination of human errors, compounded by process and equipment failures”. A senior defence official said one of the disciplined was a two-star general. General Joseph Votel said 16 service members were disciplined, but no criminal charges will be filed.
Votel explained that the special forces soldier was able to call in the strike under a caveat for the the us rules of engagement in Afghanistan, which stipulates that Americans can engage enemy forces if they are under direct threat.
“The actions included suspension and removal from command, letters of reprimand, formal counseling and extensive retraining”, the report said. None of the service members involved have been court martialed.
“It is important to point out that these adverse administrative actions can carry severe repercussions on the careers and professional qualifications of these individuals that could include denial of promotion or advancement … and possible separation from the service”, Votel said.
Afghan (MSF) surgeons work inside a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital after an air strike in the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan in this October 3, 2015 MSF handout photo. “Instead, they found the Doctors Without Borders Trauma Center that generally matched the physical description of the building relayed over the radio by the ground force”, Votel said.
The aircrew had thought they were firing on the intended target, Votel said.
A separate United States report on the incident said last fall the AC-130 aircraft fired 211 shells at the hospital compound over 29 minutes before commanders realized the mistake and ordered a halt.
Doctors Without Borders, known officially as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF, responded saying, “we can not accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage'”.
President Obama previous year apologized to the Afghan people for the attack and Votel said the USA has since made “condolence” payments totaling roughly $252,000 to the families of the 42 killed and the estimated 128 wounded – $6,000 for those killed and $3,000 for those wounded.
Votel said the special operations team that called the airstrike was engaged in “an extraordinarily intense combat situation” while supporting Afghan security forces fighting Taliban fighters.
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An earlier report from MSF said that the trauma center was “fully functioning” at the time of the airstrikes, with 105 patients admitted and surgeries taking place, according to the findings of its investigation.
